A man was in custody on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after a brief pursuit in Santa Ana on Thursday morning, May 17, authorities said.

The pursuit caused a brief lockdown of two Santa Ana schools, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department.

Officers responded to a call about 6:30 a.m. of a black pickup truck doing doughnuts at the intersection of Glenwood Place and Raitt Street, Bertagna said.

The call also indicated that someone had been breaking windows at a nearby park and acting erratically, Bertagna said.

When officers arrived, the suspect began driving erratically and attempted to ram the officers, Bertagna said.

“Both officers took evasive action, but the suspect was able to get behind one of the units,” Bertagna said. “He followed and attempted to ram him again.”

The officer lost control of his vehicle and hit a fence near Adams Elementary. Officers initiated a pursuit, which ended in the 1500 block of South Joane Way, near where the suspect lives, Bertagna said.

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The officer who hit the fence was transported to a local hospital with a complaint of pain from the collision.

Adams Elementary was briefly on lockdown due to the incident, Bertagna said. He was not sure what other school had been locked down.

Carl Harvey Elementary School and Santa Ana Valley High School are also near the location of the pursuit.

Bertagna said the man was also involved in another incident at the rear of the police station overnight.

“The same guy got into the secure area behind our police department and was confrontational with officers there as well,” Bertagna said.

Nathan covers crime and public safety for the Daily Breeze. Prior to joining the coverage team in the South Bay, Nathan worked for the Orange County Register, where he covered south Orange County cities and community sports. A freelance play-by-play broadcaster, Nathan can be heard calling high school baseball and community college football games during the spring on his days off.